SANCOR Newsletter Newsletter 209.pdf · SANCOR Newsletter Various specimens of Africa's earliest...

SANCOR NewsletterSANCOR Newsletter

Various specimens of Africa's earliest coelacanth have been

found in a 360 million year-old fossil estuary near

Grahamstown, in South Africa's Eastern Cape.

More than 30 complete specimens of the new fossil

species, Serenichthys kowiensis, were collected from the

famous Late Devonian aged Waterloo Farm locality, by

palaeontologist Dr Robert Gess and described by him in

collaboration with Professor Michael Coates of the University of

Chicago.

Gess did the research whilst he was completing his PhD at the

Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the

Witwatersrand. An article describing the new species will be

published in the in the prestigious Zoological Journal of the

Linnean Society of London in August.

"Remarkably, all of the delicate whole fish impressions

represent juveniles. This suggests that Serenichthys was using

a shallow, waterweed-filled embayment of the estuary as a

nursery, as many fish do today," says Gess.

The fossils come from black shales originally disturbed by road

works at Waterloo Farm. These shales are the petrified

compacted remains of mud, which was deposited in the quiet

reaches of an estuary not unlike some of those along the

Eastern Cape coast today.

Africa's earliest known coelacanth found in the

Eastern Cape

South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research

October 2015

Issue 209

Inside this issue:

S A N C O R ’ S C U R R E N C Y A N D S T R E N G T H I S I N F O R M A T I O N

ISSN 03700-9026

First CoastGIS symposium in Africa 3

Volunteer drivers needed at SANCCOB 20

SANCOR's Twi er Account 21

SANCOR Forum 2015 23

New SANCOR Representa ves 25

SANCOR's History 26

SANCOR's Postdoctoral Fellows 29

Dr John Field awarded IOC‐UNESCO medal 31

In memory of Roddy Ward 5

SA’s sustainable hake fishery 7

Of mangroves, larvae and other tales 8

Hi‐tech tracking tags 10

ORI celebrates 30 years of ci zen science 12

SAMREC works to save the African Penguin 14

What’s your #SASSI story? 15

3rd Southern Ocean Seasonal Cycle Experiment 16

SAMREF Kickstart Workshop 18

New book on WIO fisheries and biodiversity 19

Mike Bruton’s autobiography 20

Page 2 SANCOR Newsletter Issue 209

"This earliest known record of a

coelacanth nursery foreshadows a

much younger counterpart, known

from the 300 million year old Mazon

Creek beds of Illinois in the United

States," says Gess.

"This glimpse into the early life history

of ancient coelacanths raises further

questions about the life history of the

modern coelacanth, Latimeria, which is

known to bear live young, but whether

they, too, are clustered in nurseries

remains unknown," explains Coates.

360 million years ago, Africa was part

of the southern supercontinent

Gondwana, made up of Africa, India,

Australia, Antarctica and South

America. At that time, the rocks of

Waterloo Farm were forming along the

shores of the semi-enclosed Agulhas

Sea, not far from the South Pole.

Gess originally identified coelacanth

remains from the locality whilst

carrying out excavations at Waterloo

Farm in the mid-1990s under the

supervision of Dr Norton Hiller, of the

R h o d e s U n i v e r s i t y G e o l o g y

Department. These fossils were not,

however, well enough preserved to

be reconstructed and described. His

painstaking excavation of tons of

shale salvaged during subsequent

roadworks has now shed light on

dozens more specimens, a few of

which are preserved in exquisite

detail.

These were prepared under a

microscope and have allowed the

species to be reconstructed in minute

detail. They prove to be a new genus

and species.

Coelacanths are believed to have

arisen during the Devonian Period

(about 419.2 ± 3.2 million years

ago), however only five species of

r e c o n s t r u c t a b l e D e v o n i a n

coelacanths have previously been

described, in addition to a number of

very fragmentary remains. None of

these came from Africa, but rather

from North America, Europe, China

and Australia. The new species gives

important additional information on

the early evolution of coelacanths.

"According to our evolutionary

analysis (conducted by Gess and

Coates), it is the Devonian species that

most closely resembles the line leading

to modern coelacanths," says Gess.

The new species was discovered a

mere 100km from the mouth of the

Chalumna River, off which the type

specimen of Latimeria chalumnae (the

first discovered modern coelacanth)

was caught in 1938.

Furthermore, the Geology Department

at Rhodes, where Gess was based

when he found his first fossil

coelacanth, is on the site of the former

C h e m i s t r y D e p a r t m e n t

where Latimeria was first described. In

keeping with the naming of its living

relative (after an Eastern Cape river),

the species name of the new fossil

form, kowiensis, is after the Kowie

River which rises among the hills where

it was found, and the genus

name, Serenichthys, honours Serena

Gess, who provided land for the

storage of more than 70 tons of black

shale rescued from roadworks for

ongoing research - in which all the new

material was found.

All specimens have been deposited in

the palaeontological collection of the

Albany Natural History Museum, in

Grahamstown, Eastern Cape Province,

South Africa.

Serenichthys coelacanth holotype is shown. Credit: Wits University


The CSIR and the University of

Stellenbosch successfully hosted the

first CoastGIS symposium in Africa,

under the theme; Rich data, poor

data: Geospatial creativity and

innovation for managing changing

coastal systems, in Cape Town from 22

– 24 April 2015.

“Compared with developed countries

from Europe and North America, South

Africa recognises the paucity of spatial

data required for decision-making,”

said Dr Louis Celliers, CSIR coastal

system research group leader and

scientist during the welcome plenary,

“in addition, developing nations,

including South Africa, lack the spatial

data infrastructure and information

systems required to maximise the

return on investment made in

collecting the often limited data that is

available. In this regard, we can learn

m u c h f r o m o u r E u r o p e a n

counterparts”.

The symposium theme refers to the

increasing demand on decision-makers

and managers to be aware of changes

i n t h e c oa s t a l a n d ma r i n e

environment. “Not only must there be

a much greater emphasis on the

measuring of change, but also

increasingly explore creative options

for data poor and rich environments

alike to act on the observed changes.

These may have either positive or

negative societal impacts,” said Dr

Celliers, who was also the conference

chair.

Geographic information systems

(GIS) were designed to capture,

store, manipulate, analyse, manage,

and present all types of spatial or

geographical data. GIS is a very

relevant and appropriate tool with

which coastal and marine scientists

can measure and v i sua l i se

environmental change in the oceans

and coasts. “It is hoped that hosting

this conference in South Africa will

boost the prominence and application

of coastal and marine GIS and

remote sensing in the country,” said

Adriaan van Niekerk, Director of the

University of Stellenbosch Centre for

Geographical Analysis and CoastGIS

co-chair.

The 12th CoastGIS symposium had

three objectives:

Create a platform for information

exchange,

Create an opportunity for

CSIR and University of Stellenbosch host first CoastGIS symposium in Africa

By

Reyhana Mahomed

Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR

Dr Louis Celliers, CSIR Coastal System

Research Group Leader and scientist,

who was also the CoastGIS 2015

symposium chair.

networking and the start of future

collaborations and

Promote concepts of geospatial

creativity in developing countries.

“This symposium has always been

structured to showcase the use of GIS

in coastal science,” said Ron Furness, a

hydrographer and co-founder of the

GIS symposium, which was first held

Ron Furness, a hydrographer and co‐

founder of the GIS conference.


in Ireland in 1995. Furness was

delivering the first keynote address of

the three-day conference. Furness

further expressed his enthusiasm for

hydrography, cartography and GIS as

building blocks of the fundamental

knowledge required to unlock the

potential of increased benefit from the

coastal and oceans – “blue” or ocean

economies”.

Furness was one of six keynote

speakers at the symposium. Prof

Shankar Aswani, a lecturer from the

Rhodes University Department of

Anthropology, delivered the final

keynote address. His presentation

explored the role of geospatial analysis

for understanding human coastal

interactions. He explained that a better

understanding of the geospatial

characteristics of communities and the

supporting environment improves

resource management. “The use of

geospatial analysis can help in the

analysis of various dimensions of

human behaviour and its impact on the

natural environment,” said Prof Aswani

w h o c o m e s f r o m t h e

I n t e r depa r tmen t a l G r adua t e

Programme in Marine Sciences at the

University of California in Santa

Barbara, USA. His research has

previously focused on a diversity of

subjects including property rights and

common property resources, marine

indigenous ecological knowledge,

demography, and human behavioural

ecology of fishing. Prof Aswani

emphasised that spatial research can

contribute towards the development

of theory, “as we test on-the-ground

human ecological interaction”.

The symposium itself had ten

sessions with a focus on, among

others, risk and vulnerability,

decision support and spatial planning,

risk, vulnerability and climate

change, and innovative applications

o f geospa t i a l t e chno l og i e s .

Symposium presentations covered a

wide variety of subjects including the

determination of coastal flooding

levels in South Africa; spatial

mode l l ing for shore l ine best

management practices; decision

support tools for enhancing ecological

services and coastal resiliency in

V i rg in ia , USA; and semant ic

integration of marine debris data from

multiple clean-up organisations

working to reduce the impact of

marine debris along the USA West

Coast.

The symposium, attended by delegates

from all corners of the world, including

Tunisia, Brazil, Malaysia, Mauritius -

most of the European countries and

Australia - included an excursion to

Diep Estuary, Rietfvlei and Big Bay in

Milnerton. The excursion was an

opportunity for both international and

local delegates to experience the

coastal planning challenges faced by a

transforming society in a developing

nation, and how these are being

addressed by local government. Louis

hopes that bringing the symposium to

Africa, and South Africa specifically,

will spark local and regional interest in

coastal GIS as an important tool in the

The excursion to Diep Estuary, showing delegates the coastal

planning challenges faced by a transforming society in a

developing nation, and how these were overcome.

The CoastGIS 2015 symposium was the first to be held in

Africa.


toolbox of coastal and marine

scientists and managers.

Also part of the symposium was two

preceding workshops; the first

focusing on the application of light

detection and ranging data (LiDAR) for

coastal management; and the second,

a coastal/marine spatial data

infrastructure capacity building

workshop titled: “Managing big data

challenges”. The conference itself had

ten sessions focusing on, among

others, risk and vulnerability, decision

support and spatial planning, risk,

vulnerability and climate change, and

innovative applications of geospatial

technologies.

The goal of the CoastGIS symposium

series, now in its 20th year, has

always been to focus on how

information technologies, including GIS

and remote sensing, are used in

coastal zone management, science and

research. For more information on the

outputs from the workshop and

symposium please contact Louis:

[email protected].

It was an honour and privilege to

have known Roddy and been able to

call him friend. His passing not only

deprived us of an amazing scientist

and naturalist but also signalled the

end of an era. None of us are in a

good position to adequately comment

on his life as we all only knew him for

limited periods and from individual

perspectives.

My family knew him from 1980 when

his late son, Mark, worked for the

then Bureau of Natural Resources but

he soon became a firm favourite with

our whole clan from the young

children to us more mature

specimens. We can only mention

what we know of him during the

period of our interactions but there

was much more to him and his

activities spanned many decades.

I know that in 1953 he was one of

the first scientists employed by the

Natal Parks Board at a time when

there was a lmost unl imited

enthusiasm, energy, passion and only

limited cash and capacity. It was an

exciting time with new discoveries

and great advances in conservation

and Roddy’s contributions must have

been immense and critically important.

He then moved to what became the

University of Durban Westville, for

about twenty five years, during which

time I am sure he trained and

mentored many people who are now

very influential in environmental circles

in SA and elsewhere.

Despite his scientific credentials the

things that stand out with Roddy were

his warmth, honesty and integrity,

humility and, in one word, he was a

“gentleman” in the best sense. Anyone

who knew him had to be impressed

with these qualities at a time when

many of us had to cut corners, bend

information and please head offices or

bankers. I just read that in the early

days of NPB he was apparently almost

the first to suggest culling animals to

In memory of Roddy Ward

By

Scotty Kyle

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife


look after the ecosystems at a time

when animals and the preservationist

approach were paramount. As a

consultant he was known as one who

could not and would not write anything

but the facts and if you saw his name

associated with a project then you

could relax and know that this EIA was

worthwhile.

Everyone I have spoken to about him

have used very similar wording to

describe Roddy but almost always

there was the word “gentleman”. Ricky

Taylor said that “he taught holistic

ecology. Ecology where one needs to

understand the landscape and its

formation; sediments and geology;

hydrology and climate and the

interactions between plants; between

plants and animals and between plants

and humans.” He was a great teacher

and leader but in the humblest way. It

is not possible to list all his attributes

but all of us who knew him felt the

same way.

Our children loved him. I well

remember one time when he stayed

with us at Kosi Bay and he was to

leave in the morning but we managed

to squeeze in one more walk in the

forest before he went. We finally got

home in the late afternoon with serious

dehydration, hungry and exhausted

but also very happy and almost

inspired. He had a way of enthusing

anyone on his pet subjects and

singlehandedly must have led many

people to study botany.

We only really knew him in the

terrestrial context but he was also

intimately and passionately involved

with the marine environment and

made enormous contributions in this

field. I remember his passionate

discussions about seagrass and I

once accidentally stood on one of his

precious reseeded plants and felt his

short lasting wrath.

We have lost many colleagues and

friends over the years but in Roddy

there is an added aspect in that it

really marks the end of an era where

individual passion was paramount,

when we were naturalists not

scientists and when top decision

makers occasionally listened more

closely to us.

Roddy was an optimist much of the

time and never stopped working for

and being passionate about the

environment. I really hope that all his

information, in his wee pocket books

and elsewhere, can somehow be

captured and collated.

Roddy had a full life and will be

fondly remembered all over the world

and his various legacies will continue

to enrich the world and his friends.

Rest in peace Roddy, you made a

difference and you are being sorely

missed.

The Department of

Environmental

Science and the

Environmental

Learning Research

Centre at Rhodes

University is offering

a short course on

Community‐Based

Natural Resource

Management.

The course will be held

during

30 Nov ‐ 4 Dec 2015.

Apply before

30 November 2015

SHORTCOURSE

http://sancor.nrf.ac.za/SiteAssets/Events/30%20Nov%202015%20Community-based%20Nat%20Res%20Mgt.pdf�










The 51 trawler owners and operators

in South Africa’s Deep Sea Trawling

Industry Association (SADSTIA)

rece ived a fur ther f ive-year

cert i f icat ion from the Marine

Stewardship Council in May this year.

SADSTIA’s members are the trawler

owners and operators that deliver

hake to fish & chip shops in every

corner of South Africa; process and

package fish fingers and other popular

hake products for local supermarkets;

and also supply a demanding

international market with a range of

value-added hake products.

“The certification is an important

achievement for the deep-sea fishery

and very good news for South Africa,”

said Dr Johann Augustyn, secretary of

SADSTIA.

“Recent economic studies have shown

that securing the health of the deep-

sea fishery has prevented the loss of

up to 12 000 jobs within the fishing

industry and growing demand

(particularly in northern Europe) for

certified sustainable seafood products

has resulted in the expansion of export

markets worth US$197 million (R2.24

billion).”

According to Tim Reddell, chairman of

SADSTIA and a director of Viking

Fishing, one of the advantages of

holding MSC certification is that it has

made trawler owners and operators

more aware of the ways in which

their vessels and operations interact

with the environment. “It has

focused our attention on ensuring

that we achieve the criteria of

sustainable util isation of the

resource,” says Reddell.

This is the third time the hake trawl

fishery has secured certification from

the MSC, the world’s leading

certif ication and eco-labell ing

program for sustainable wild-caught

seafood. In 2004 it became the first

hake fishery in the world to be judged

by the MSC as “sustainable and well

managed”; after the initial five-year

certification period came to an end in

2009, the fishery was re-assessed

and re-certified for a five-year period

in 2010. The latest certification comes

after a rigorous 12-month re-

assessment process during which an

independent certification agency

scrutinised every aspect of the

fishery’s management and once again

found it to comply with the MSC’s main

principles. These are:

a fishery is conducted in such a

way that it does not lead to over

fishing or a decrease in the stock;

fishing operations do not impact

on the health of the marine

ecosystem;

fishing is managed and regulated

in a responsible way.

Since the initial MSC certification in

2004, improved fishing practices have

resulted in major environmental

achievements. For instance:

Trawl grounds have been “ring

South Africa’s hake fishery is sustainable and well managed

Photo Credit: MSC

By

Claire Attwood

Media Consultant

SADSTIA


fenced” so as to prevent damage

to lightly trawled areas and

protect natural refuges for hake.

Trawling outside the ring fenced

zone requires an environmental

impact assessment.

There has been a 99% reduction

in the number of albatrosses that

are accidentally injured and

sometimes killed by trawl gear.

Bycatch (species other than hake

that are caught in trawl nets,

including kingklip and monk) is

better managed than ever before.

The industry is funding and

supporting a ground-breaking,

long-term research project that

will examine the impacts of

t r a w l i n g o n t h e m a r i n e

environment. The research is

being conducted in partnership

w i t h t h e De pa r tme n t o f

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,

the University of Cape Town and

the South African Environmental

Observation Network.

South Africa’s deep-sea trawl fishery is

the only fishery in Africa to have

achieved accreditation from the

MSC. It is one of approximately 250

fisheries around the world that have

been certified by the MSC. Together,

MSC-certified fisheries currently catch

about nine million metric tonnes of

seafood annually – close to 10% of the

total harvest from wild capture

fisheries.

The MSC public certification report is

available here.

Through an ongoing collaboration

with the South African Institute for

Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB) African

Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme’s

(ACEP) Phuhlisa Programme, 13

students from Walter Sisulu

University (WSU) and the University

of Fort Hare (UFH) attended an

aquatic ecology course. This 10 day

field-based course was held at the

Mngazana Estuary, just south of Port

St Johns, known to support the third

largest area of mangroves in South

Africa.

Funded through the Knowledge,

Interchange and Collaboration (KIC) of

the National Research Foundation

(NRF) and the ACEP Phuhlisa

programme, the course was geared to

provide intensive postgraduate training

in several areas of aquatic ecology.

Th i s c ou r se p rov i ded young

postgraduates, the opportunity to meet

and engage with leading international

and national established researchers.

The course was facilitated by Dr

Francesca Porri (SAIAB), Dr Stefano

Cannicci and Professor Uta Berger. Dr

Cannicci, affiliated to the University of

Florence and University of Hong Kong,

specialises in ethology, ecology and

taxonomy of decapods and molluscs in

coastal systems, specifically in

mangroves. The research interests of

Of mangroves, larvae and other tales: a field course for postgrads from Walter Sisulu and Fort Hare

By

Paula Pattrick and

Francesca Porri

SAIAB

Dr Stefano Cannicci introducing the postgraduate students to mangrove forest

ecology.

https://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/fisheries-in-the-program/certified/south-atlantic-indian-ocean/south-africa-hake-trawl-fishery/south-african-hake-second-reassessment-documents/20150526_PCR_HAK108.pdf�


Professor Berger, of the Technische

Universität Dresden, Germany, include

modelling dynamics of tropical and

subtropical coastal ecosystems,

particularly mangrove forests and the

dynamics of complex biological

systems. Dr Cannicci’s and Professor

Berger’s lectures focused on mangrove

ecology, while Dr Porri presented a

short course in larval ecology.

The theoretical modules were strongly

linked to a field component, led by Dr

Thembinkosi Dlaza (WSU), Dr Paula

Pattrick (SAIAB), Dr Cannicci,

Professor Berger and Dr Porri, through

which students were exposed to

experimental design and sampling

using a variety of techniques, in

various coastal habitats including the

rocky shores, estuar ies, and

mangroves. Students col lected

samples from the estuary and rocky

shores, which were then later

processed in a field laboratory, to

tackle early ontogenetic taxonomy of

vertebrates and invertebrates. In

addition, during the 10 day field

course, the team attended several

topical seminars. Each night, after

dinner, a guest speaker gave a

lecture “under the stars” on various

topics, ranging from plankton to

macrobenthos to seaweed biology.

With the students now equipped with

the necessary skills to undertake

research in the field, they were

subdivided into smaller groups and

given the opportunity to undertake

their own small research project over

the course of the last 5 days of the

course. All course co-ordinators were

on standby to assist the students

where necessary with experimental

design, statistical analysis and graph

preparation. This allowed students an

opportunity to hone their statistical

skills.

The field course culminated with the

students presenting their small

research projects. Mkhayisi Centane

from WSU won the prize for the best

presentation, with second place for

best presentation awarded to

Lusando Gxalo from UFH.

This field course was a great success

and was an excellent opportunity for

early postgraduate students to interact

with leading researchers. In addition,

the field course provided a platform for

students to collaborate with one

ano ther and ge t a b roader

understanding of ecological research.

The cont inued and intens ive

interactions among students and

researchers was also a major target of

the course, to inspire postgraduates

and show how motivation, hard work,

sharing information, collaborative

effort and … fun are key elements of

science and more broadly knowledge

advancement.

Photos by Dr Thembinkosi Dlaza.

Students assessing rocky shore

biodiversity using quadrats.

Dr Berger assisting students.


Hi-tech tracking tags are redefining

how we discover, understand and

manage ocean life. A new paper,

published in Science, details the

explosion in aquatic animal tracking

research over the past 30 years and its

impact on discoveries about the

movements, migrations, interactions

and survival of both common and

elusive aquatic species.

The review describes a profound

revolution, including over 20 examples

of scientific breakthroughs, in global

ocean observation science achieved

through advancements in acoustic and

satellite telemetry—tracking via

electronic tags placed on organisms

ranging from tiny neonate fish to large

whales, which transmit data to fixed or

mobile receiver stations or orbiting

satellites.

Electronic tags can now weigh less

than a one Rand coin, can transmit for

more than 10 years, and can be

attached to almost any species, at any

life stage, to collect high-resolution

data in four dimensions (2D-horizontal,

depth and time).

“The vastness and impenetrability of

the ocean has historically limited our

ability to acquire and process

information on animal movements.

Telemetry has significantly enhanced

our capacity to predict and plan in the

face of climate change and human

influence,” said Sara Iverson,

scientific director of the Ocean

Tracking Network and corresponding

author on the paper.

Telemetry data have revealed the

often-mysterious migrations of

endangered marine animals like

leatherback turtles, basking sharks,

European eels and Pacific bluefin

tuna. These discoveries, and the

increasingly sophisticated technology

behind them, generate critical

knowledge towards conservation

recommendations. Tracking studies

also pinpoint successes and

limitations of current management

plans. For example, acoustically

tagged reef fish were shown to

regularly move outside their Marine

Protected Area (MPA), putting them at

risk.

“In the future, we could be looking at

spatially dynamic MPAs, which move

annually with predictions of animals’

response to their environments,” said

Nigel Hussey, lead author and

researcher at the University of

Windsor with the Ocean Tracking

Network.

Acoustic and satellite telemetry

studies are being combined with other

Big things come in small packages— The oceans’ internet fits on a transmitter smaller than a USB

The Acoustic Tracking Array Platform (ATAP) is an Ocean Tracking Network (OTN)

affiliated marine science programme that monitors the movements and migrations

of inshore marine animals using an expanded network of automated data‐logging

acoustic receivers moored to the ocean’s floor around the South African coastline.


biological measurements like genetic

analysis or physiological status. These

data help determine drivers behind

animal behaviour to forecast how

anthropogenic and climate changes will

affect species and populations.

Aquatic animal movements and

migrations transcend geopolitical,

e c o n o m i c , a n d m a n a g e m e n t

boundaries. Telemetry studies in the

last decade have documented

movement over transoceanic scales, to

regions unreachable by humans, and

into some of the harshest parts of the

ocean, providing the groundwork for

“next-generation aquatic governance

frameworks.”

“The study of aquatic animal

movement behaviour has inseparably

been linked to technological advances.

A nation-wide array of deployed

acoustic receivers managed by the

South African Institute for Aquatic

Biodiversity currently provides an

unprecedented opportunity to study

marine animal migrations around the

southern tip of Africa: a biodiversity

hotspot divided by two contrasting

Oceans ” , s a i d Pau l Cow ley ,

contributing author and Principal

Scientist at SAIAB.

“The ocean will continue to change,”

said Hussey. “Global collaboration—

among industry and science sectors,

and researchers themselves—is

imperative to get ahead of these

changes before they catch up to us.”

Journal Reference

Hussey, N.E., S.T. Kessel, K.

Aarestrup, S.J. Cooke, P.D. Cowley,

A.T. Fisk, R.G. Harcourt, K.N.

Holland, S.J. Iverson, J.F. Kocik, J.E.

Mills Flemming and F.G. Whoriskey.

Aquatic animal telemetry: a

panoramic window into the

underwater world. Science 12 June

2 0 1 5 : V o l . 3 4 8 n o .

6240 DOI: 10.1126/science.1255642

Media Contact: Nikki Beauchamp

[email protected]

A retrieved ATAP receiver and acoustic

release. Photo by Ryan Daly.

Willy Kokose, ATAP Technician,

preparing equipment for deployment.

Photo by Paul Cowley.

2015Symposiumof

Contemporary

ConservationPractice

2‐6Nov2015

FernHill

ConferenceCentre

Howick,KwaZulu‐Natal

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A yellowfin tuna tagged off Cape Point

was recaptured just under two years

later, off the Seychelles, having

travelled an incredible distance of +5

100 km. This means that the fish

swam a minimum of 7.3 km per day,

assuming it travelled in a straight line!

Of greater significance is the fact that

this yellowfin tuna has shown us there

is some connectivity between tuna

populations that occur in the Atlantic

Ocean off South Africa and those found

in the Indian Ocean around the

Seychelles. This finding is invaluable,

particularly for the future management

of these fish populations that were

once thought to be separate fish

stocks. This tuna recapture is also the

furthest recorded distance moved by

any fish tagged on the Oceanographic

Research Institute’s Cooperative Fish

Tagging Project (ORI-CFTP).

The ORI-CFTP was the brain-child of

past ORI Director Rudy van der Elst.

Rudy realised the potential for a well-

managed cooperative fish tagging

project to generate much-needed

data on linefish and, being spurred on

by a growing concern amongst

anglers of poor fish catches, the ORI-

CFTP was launched in 1984. After 30

years, this project is still going strong

and is undoubtedly one of the most

e n d u r i n g a n d s u c c e s s f u l

environmental projects of its kind in

South Africa. It involves the

cooperat ion of conservation-

conscious anglers (i.e. anglers who

voluntarily tag and release their fish)

and the marine angling public at

large, who report the majority of the

recaptures (i.e. a fish that is recaught

with a tag in it) to ORI. Despite the

voluntary nature of this project, the

tagging of fish still has great scientific

merit, allowing us to learn more about

the movement patterns, growth rates,

mortality rates and population

dynamics of our important linefish

species. This information is extremely

valuable and is used by scientists and

managers around the country for

policy and decision making on

linefishery management. Despite the

large quantity of important scientific

data collected by this long-term

project, the tagging project has also

made a major contribution towards

changing the ethics of anglers with

regard to catch-and-release, which

undoubtedly goes far beyond the pure

scientific value of the data collected.

Not only do anglers now have a reason

to capture and release a fish, they are

ORI celebrates 30 years of citizen science through its cooperative tag and release project

By

Stuart Dunlop

Oceanographic Research Institute

Fig 2: ‘Rocky’, the yellowbelly rockcod that has been recaptured nine times in three

years in the Pondoland MPA.

Fig 1: A plastic dart tag used in the

Oceanographic Research Institute’s

Cooperative Fish Tagging Project.


in actual fact contributing to a better

understanding of the biology and

ultimately the conservation of that

species. This added bonus goes a long

way in improving angler awareness

about our marine linefish species, as

we l l as contr ibut ing towards

sustainable fishing.

There are many different types of tags

used on different fish species (e.g. PIT

tags, satellite tags, acoustic tags,

archival tags, etc.); however, the most

common method is conventional

tagging and involves the use of

external dart tags, which are the

preferred type used in the ORI-CFTP.

Each tag consists of a monofilament

vinyl streamer attached to a plastic

barb, much like a miniature version of

a spear from a speargun (Figure 1).

Each tag is inscribed with a unique

alpha-numeric code (e.g. D123456)

and contact details (i.e. email address,

cell phone number and postal

address). Tags are generally inserted

with a sharp, hollow, stainless steel

applicator, into the dorsal musculature

of a fish or shark, although this may

differ in certain fish species (e.g.

rays). Upon initial tagging (and

subsequent recapture of a tagged fish)

ang lers record the fo l lowing

information: fish species, length (fork

or total), tag number, exact locality

and date. The use of external tags by

the ORI-CFTP is particularly favourable

as it is relatively cheap compared to

other tagging methods, relatively little

training is required to insert tags, no

software is required to download

information from each tag, and the

tagging equipment is very basic. This

allows a relatively large number of

fish to be tagged at little cost and

allows citizens who are not trained

scientists to be involved, similar in

some respects to the South African

Bird Ringing Unit. However,

considerable attention has been

focused on ensuring that the best

available tag and tagging equipment

is used and that our taggers are

shown how to handle and tag fish

correctly, in order to minimize post-

release mortality.

Currently some 5 500 members have

joined the ORI-CFTP since 1984 and

they have accounted for the capture,

tagging and release of an incredible

285 177 fish, mostly in South African

coastal waters, but also occasionally

in Mozambique and Namibia. Note

should be taken that this represents

285 177 fish that were released to

‘fight another day’ and hopefully

reproduce for future generations. Of

the fish tagged, 15 915 (5.6%) have

been recaptured and reported to ORI.

Our top five fish tagged include:

galjoen (59 218), dusky kob/kabeljou

(16 799), leervis/garrick (13 424),

dusky sharks (12 499), spotted

grunter (10 963) and copper/bronze-

whaler sharks (9 153). Unfortunately,

a large proportion of recaptured fish

are not reported to ORI, which would,

with greater awareness, undoubtedly

increase the recapture rate

substantially. If you see or hear of

any angler who has caught a tagged

fish, please offer to assist them in

recording the relevant information

(tag number, species, correct length

measurement, exact locality, date,

angler name and contact details, and

whether the fish was kept or re-

released) and even offer to send the

information in to us on their behalf

(email: [email protected] / Tel: 031

328 8222 / sms +27 79 529 0711).

Over the past 30 years there have

been some amazing recaptures

reported to ORI. The fish species with

the highest recapture rate is speckled

snapper with 1 893 fish tagged of

which a remarkable 804 (43%) have

been recaptured, owing largely to its

highly resident behaviour. Galjoen, our

national fish, is the most tagged

species on the project, with 59 089

fish tagged, accounting for 21% of the

total number of fish tagged to date.

Much of this is thanks to the efforts of

the research team that has been

tagging galjoen in the De Hoop Marine

Reserve since 1987 and some avid

taggers fishing along the Cape

Peninsula. The longest recorded time

free (the length of time a fish was at

liberty between the initial tagging and

first time recaptured) for a bony fish

was for a red steenbras tagged in the

Tsitsikamma National Park in 1989.

This fish was recaptured off the Kei

Mouth in the Eastern Cape in 2011,

some 22.1 years later, providing

strong evidence of the longevity of this

species. Similarly, a ragged-tooth

shark tagged at Southbroom on the

KZN south coast in 1988 was

recaptured in Mossel Bay in 2011, a

staggering 22.6 years later and 1014

km away from its original tagging

location. The most recaptured

individual fish on the project is ‘Rocky’,

a yellowbelly rockcod tagged in the


Pondoland MPA just south of Port

Edward, which has been recaptured no

less than nine times on the same reef

over a three-year period (Figure 2)! It

is these incredible recaptures and the

numerous others on the tagging

database that make this project so

exciting and beneficial.

We would like to express our sincere

gratitude for the financial and

administrative support received from

the following organizations during the

30-year history of this project: the

South African Association for Marine

Biological Research (SAAMBR),

Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (now

called Distell) who generously funded

the tagging project for 22 years under

their Sedgwick’s Old Brown Sherry

brand, the South African Nature

Foundation which became WWF-South

Africa, the Tony and Lisette Lewis

Foundation and most recently the KZN

Department of Economic Development,

Tourism and Environmental Affairs

(EDTEA), without which we would have

been unable to continue this important

project. Most of all, we would like to

thank all of our past and currently

active tagging members for their

valuable contributions towards this

project. David Hall (Hallprint©

Australia) is thanked for his excellent

service and on-going supply of high

quality tags and applicators. Lastly, we

would like to thank Rudy van der Elst

for his foresight in developing this

remarkable “citizen science” project

long before the coining of the phrase;

and to Elinor Bullen for running the

project as ORI’s “Tagging Officer” for

an incredible 27 years (1984-2011)!

T he S o u th A f r i c a n M a r i n e

Rehabilitation and Education Centre

(SAMREC) is based at Cape Recife in

Port Elizabeth. As such it is ideally

situated to receive and rehabilitate

injured and oiled penguins from the

largest remaining colony of African

Penguins in the world on St Croix and

Bird Islands in Algoa Bay.

However, the emphasis of

SAMREC is on much more

than just rehabilitating

penguins, as important as

this is. As the name

implies, education forms

an important component

of SAMREC’s work, and

visitors are encouraged to

come and learn about the

marine environment and

all the life it supports. In

particular, classes of

school children come to

experience the coast and

all it has to offer – the

future lies with them, and

we need to inculcate a love

of nature at an early age.

SAMREC works with other

rehabilitation centres, and

also encourages cooperation with local

universities. We can achieve a much

better understanding of the plight of

the African Penguin by working

together, and it is only by doing this

that we can hope to save it from

extinction.

As a non-profit organisation, SAMREC

kindly asks the public to donate

towards its work. But more than that,

we ask that you visit us and find out

what we are doing – and even more

than that, join us!

Website address: samrec.org.za

SAMREC works to save the African Penguin


Our oceans face multiple threats such

as overfishing, climate change,

pollution and increasing user conflicts

over limited marine resources. When

faced with news of these growing

threats most people feel overwhelmed

and disempowered by the enormity of

the problem others feel that they

cannot influence the direction that

things are going in.

However, what many people don’t

realise is, as a consumer, they in fact

play a pivotal role in how our oceans

are managed and protected.

Consumers can use both their voices

and their spending power to influence

the seafood products that are sold in

restaurants, retailers, hotels and

wherever else seafood is offered.

This is the central theme of WWF

Southern Africa’s South Africa

Sustainable Seafood Init iat ive

(SASSI).Well known for its easy

reference traffic light system, SASSI

classifies seafood into either Green

(Best Choice), Orange (Think Twice) or

Red (Don’t Buy) based on what species

it is, how it was caught or farmed and

where it comes from. Together these

factors determine the sustainability of

the species. We now need to ask our

supermarket fishmonger, fish shop

server or restaurant waiter about the

sustainability of our seafood: ‘What is

your sustainable seafood story?’

SASSI has become a very powerful

agent for leveraging change across

the supply chain in the seafood

industry. The new #SASSIstories

campaign aims to build on this

momentum by highlighting inspiring

stories about seafood sustainability

from fishers, retailers, chefs,

Fishing for stories - what’s your #SASSI story?

“If you think one

individual cannot make

a difference, try to

sleep with a mosquito

in the room”

adapted from the Dalai

Lama


consumers, researchers and others

who have driven positive change in an

o f t e n c o m p l e x s e c t o r . T h e

#SASSIstories campaign chronicles

diverse stories, such as that of the

South African trawl companies that,

together with NGOs and scientists,

changed how they fish in order to

reduce their impacts on the iconic and

threatened albatross.

The adjacent image illustrates another

great example of a Durban magistrate

who sentenced a restaurant, found

selling illegally caught fish, to attend

SASSI training to learn more about

sustainable seafood. There are lots of

great stories out there of people doing

things differently for the love of our

oceans.

All of these inspiring narratives of the

#SASSIstories are based on true

accounts of people and companies that

have chosen to make a difference.

These stories have been captured in

illustrations and poetry and will be

shared with the SASSI community

over the next 6 months. Hearing

about what others are doing not only

helps to build support for existing

activities including WWF’s work with

retailers and fisheries but also inspires

people to create their own stories. So

w h a t ’ s y o u r s t o r y ? V i s i t

www.sassistories.co.za to share our

stories, to share your success stories

and to hold your fishmonger

accountable to their sustainable

seafood commitments by emailing

them directly from the SASSIstories

website. You have a choice. Make it

green!

The Southern Ocean is a key

component of the earth system,

being responsible for 50% of ocean

uptake of atmospheric CO2 and 30%

of carbon export flux to the deep

ocean. Climate models and decadal

data sets predict changes in the

Earth’s climate that will influence the

effectiveness of the Southern Ocean

CO2 sink through adjustments to sea

surface temperature, stratification

and mixing, all of which affect the

nutrient and light supply necessary

for phytoplankton production (and

associated carbon export). The

challenge in predicting long term

trends in the Southern Ocean carbon

cycle lies in our ability to resolve

interannual variability and the link

between seasonal and intraseasonal

dynamics in physical drivers and

biogeochemical responses. Despite

their importance, surface ocean

processes at these scales are poorly

understood and quantified due to

operational limitations of ships and

moorings. This has necessitated the

use of autonomous, remotely sensed

and modeling platforms that are able

to address the temporal and spatial

scale gaps in our knowledge of a

hitherto under sampled ocean.

Aims

Understanding through seasonal

scale observations, the role of fine

scale upper ocean physical

dynamics on CO2 fluxes and

primary production in the Southern

Ocean and its impact on large-

scale carbon-climate sensitivities.

To make a significant contribution

to improving the way global

climate models reflect CO2 and

primary productivity climate

sensitivities in the Southern Ocean.

A novel aspect of SOSCEx III is the

integrated multi-platform approach,

which aims to explore new questions

about the climate sensitivity of carbon

and ecosystem dynamics and how

these processes are parameterized in

models.

Observational Approach

The observational approach employs

the research ship together with

robotics-based continuous year-round,

high-resolution observations of the

upper ocean. The primary objective is

to understand how meso- to sub-

mesoscale features (eddies and fronts)

interact with seasonal to subseasonal

scales (heating & transient storms) to

characterize the seasonal cycle of

upper ocean mixed layer depth, CO2

Plans underway for SOSCEx III The 3rd Southern Ocean Seasonal Cycle Experiment

By

Pedro M.S. Monteiro, Sebastiaan Swart, Sandy

Thomalla and Thato Mtshali

Ocean Systems & Climate, CSIR


fluxes, Fe and light availability,

primary production and associated

carbon export. The observation plans

are centered on three seasonal ship-

based cruises (using South Arica’s

polar research vessel the SA Agulhas

II) of the Atlantic Sub-Antarctic

Southern Ocean in winter 2015,

summer 2015 and autumn 2016

spanned by continuous high resolution

robotics-based observations (buoyancy

gliders, wave gliders and bio-optics

floats). An additional observational

approach so addressing the aims of

SOSCEx includes the use of ocean

colour remote sensing that provides

synoptic high frequency observations

of biological and physical parameters

across oceanic ecosystems over

decadal time scales.

Modelling Approach

A hierarchy of medium to ultra-high

resolution forced ocean model

domains (NEMO-PISCES) will be used

to test our understanding of the links

between surface boundary layer

p h y s i c a l d r i v e r s a n d t h e

biogeochemical response scales,

especially in terms of air-sea CO2

fluxes, ocean productivity and

associated carbon export.

The third seasonal cycle experiment

builds on the experience gained in

SOSCEx I & II, which were the first

Robotic Seagliders and Wave Gliders

housed in the Southern Ocean

Dr Thato Mtshali setting up the Fast

Repetition Rate Fluorometer (FRRf)

inside a trace metal clean laboratory

container.

A synthesis of the observing strategy for SOSCEx III depicting the use of the ship,

ocean gliders, bio‐optics floats and numerical models. The yellow‐blue hexagons

represent the twinned ocean glider deployments, the orange curve shows the

Langrangian float trajectories and the high‐resolution modeling domain is depicted

with a white dashed line. The mean locations of the oceanic fronts are shown in

magenta lines as derived from satellite altimetry data. The underlying shading

represents the mean summer chlorophyll‐a concentration for the region (i.e. lighter

shading = high chlorophyll‐a areas).

continuous high-resolution seasonal

cycle experiments that enhanced our

understanding of the system and

provided proof of our capacity to

u n d e r t a k e t h e s e f o r m s o f

observations. In doing so we are

confident that we are now able to

embark on the broader objectives put

forward in SOSCEx III.


The Kickstart Workshop of the

Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental

Research Collaboration Project was

held during 23-24 July 2015 in

Kirstenbosch. The aim of the meeting

was to introduce the project to

stakeholders and get early feedback.

The meeting was attended by 86

participants from government, the

private sector, NGO’s, universities and

research institutions. Dr Thomas Auf

der Heyde (Deputy Director-General,

Depa r tmen t o f S c i ence and

Technology) chaired the workshop.

This represented the first step in the

development of new public-private

partnerships for the collection of

ecosystem information in South

Africa’s offshore domain.

Offshore oil and gas exploration has

the potential to provide a unique

opportunity to gather important

research information that would

normally be difficult to obtain due to

expenses of a dedicated research

voyage. Industry vessels and fixed

platforms frequently put to sea and

hence have the capacity to obtain

and share such data. In turn, the

marine research community has the

knowledge to help best guide

industry in how to get maximum

potential from the data they are

collecting.

The O f f shore O i l and Gas

Environmental Research Collaboration

Project is a project to implement

Operation Phakisa’s Offshore Oil and

Gas Exploration Initiative B3:

Exploiting the broader research

opportunities presented by offshore

oil and gas exploration.

The overall objective of the project is

to support the inclusive process of

development of the South African

Marine Research and Exploration

Forum (SAMREF). SAMREF will be a

multi-sector forum, inclusive of public

and private sectors that would:

Identify and take advantage of

opportunities provided by oil and

gas exploration activities and

platforms, to gather important

marine ecosystem data which

would otherwise be difficult and

expensive to obtain.

Facil itate new collaborative

offshore studies that would

increase South Africa’s state of

knowledge of the offshore marine

environment, related to renewable

ene r gy po t en t i a l , ma r i n e

biodiversity and ecology, climate

change and ecosystem functioning.

Kickstarting collaboration: research opportunities presented by offshore oil and gas exploration

Photo by Johan PauwPhoto by Johan Pauw


The National Research Foundation has

been contracted by the Department of

Science and Technology to set up the

South African Marine Research and

Exploration Forum. The project

management team reports to a

Working Group consisting of various

government departments and the

private sector.

The meeting resulted in the exchange

of information critical to the project, a

better understanding of the interests

and needs of the various sectors,

i d en t i f i c a t i on o f e a r l y - s t age

opportunities for SAMREF, as well as

weaknesses and possible threats that

should be mitigated. Opportunities to

engage other marine industries such

as mining and the fishing sector were

welcomed.

Source: Kickstart Workshop Report of

t h e O f f s h o r e O i l a n d G a s

Environmental Research Collaboration

Project

The West Indian Ocean Marine

S c i e n c e s A s s o c i a t i o n

(WIOMSA) and the Oceano-

graphic Research Institute

(ORI) have announced the

publication of: ”OFFSHORE

FISHERIES OF THE SOUTH-

WEST INDIAN OCEAN: their

status and the impact on vul-

nerable species” (edited by

Rudy van der Elst and Berna-

dine Everett).

This 450 page volume brings

together in one document the

status of some of the region’s

largest fisheries together with

an evaluation of the impact

these fisheries impose on vul-

nerable organisms. This multi-

authored compendium is broadly

based on results generated by the

Southwest Indian Ocean Fisheries

Project (SWIOFP) and deals with off-

shore fisheries in the EEZ of nine

countries in the Southwest Indian

Ocean. Included are trawl and trap

fisheries for crustaceans, a range of

pelagic fisheries as well as a diversity

of demersal fisheries. For each of

these sectors several databases, a

range of research cruises and a wide

spectrum of literature is analysed to

reflect historic trends and report on

the status of selected key species.

Attention is given to the prevalence

of bycatch whilst individual chapters

are devoted to the status of vulnera-

ble biota namely seabirds, marine

mammals, elasmobranchs, sea tur-

tles and threatened teleost fishes. This

volume concludes with identification of

59 of the region’s biodiversity hotspots

that justify special protection and can

serve as biodiversity reference sites.

There will be a formal launch during

the 26-31 October WIOMSA Scientific

Symposium, at which time hard copies

of the book will be available. Digital

copies can also be downloaded from

the ORI website.

Van der Elst RP and Everett BI. 2015.

(eds). Offshore fisheries of the South-

west Indian Ocean: their status and

the impact on vulnerable species.

Oceanographic Research Institute,

Special Publication, 10. 448pp.

http://www.ori.org.za/content/page/sp

ecial-publications

New book on West Indian Ocean fisheries and biodiversity

http://samref.dirisa.org/�


This fast-paced, highly readable book

recounts the extraordinary life of Mike

Bruton, one of the leading fish

biologists in Africa. Mike was born in

the town where the first living

coelacanth was discovered and studied

at Rhodes University in South Africa at

the same time as the great

ichthyologist, Professor JLB Smith,

who first described ‘old fourlegs’. Mike

became Director of the Ichthyology

Institute named after Smith and

pioneered searches for the coelacanth

in southern and eastern Africa.

Together with colleagues from all over

the world he made many new

discoveries on the biology of this

extraordinary fish and campaigned

internationally for the conservation of

the coelacanth.

Mike’s research on the freshwater

fishes of Africa and the Middle East

lead to entanglements with

crocodiles, hippopotami, giant snakes

and military operations but also

allowed him to contribute to

international efforts to conserve

wetlands and endangered species.

Whether you are a naturalist,

fisherman, aquarist or sushi eater,

you will be fascinated by these

astonishing tales of a man who

almost became a fish!

‘When I was a Fish. Tales of an

Ichthyologist’, Jacana Media, April

2015, 310 pages.

Mike Bruton’s autobiography

SANCCOB (the Southern African

Foundation for the Conservation of

Coastal Birds) is urgently looking for

volunteer drivers at its seabird cen-

tre in Cape Town. Using official

SANCCOB vehicles, volunteer drivers

assist with collecting rescued birds

in-and-around the Cape Town area

and transporting rehabilitated birds

for release back into the wild. Li-

censed drivers needed for weekdays

and weekends. To apply, simply con-

tact [email protected] or

call (021) 557 6155.

Volunteer drivers needed at SANCCOB


Does Twitter have your feathers

ruffled? Are you a “tweeter” (write

tweets) or a “tweader” (read tweets)?

Do you have a “handle” or even know

how to “hashtag”? Do any of these

words make sense to you?

Twitter is, simply put, another

platform for communication. But it’s a

small platform, with only enough space

for 140 characters or less. It was

originally an idea between friends in

and co-founders Jack Dorsey (@Jack),

Evan Williams (@Ev), and Biz Stone

(@Biz) aimed at just being another

kind of text messaging, in 2006 at a

time when smartphones were booming

and Facebook was two years old.

The catch was that you only had 140

characters, or less, to say (tweet)

whatever it was that you wanted to.

Nowadays, there are ways around

that of course, with programs and

algorithms that will spread your tweet

over multiple messages, or shorten

website addresses for inclusion in a

t w e e t , o r e v e n r e - d i r e c t

readers/tweaders to another site for

a full story. But the original 140

character limit came from the fact

that your phone and my phone (yes,

even my phone) have a limit of 160

characters in one SMS. The remaining

20 characters are for your “handle” -

your username, your @whatever.

Since the definition of twitter is “a

short burst of inconsequential

information” and “a series of chirps

from birds”, the first tweets were

sometimes called chirps, but over the

years Twitter lingo and jargon has

even changed the way we talk in

every day conversation, for that see a

nearby #teenager (hash tag

teenager).

Even Big Data has found Twitter, with

over 100 million users logging in

daily. You can tweet from a

smartphone, a computer, or a tablet.

The most up to date information I

could find showed about a billion

registered users (at least 1 in every 7

people on the planet!) and 550 million

active (have sent at least one tweet)

accounts. Even on Twitter you can lurk

in the background.

No surprise that celebrities, politicians

and sports figures have the most

followers on Twitter. Currently,

@katyperry leads the pack with 71.41

million followers, and the non-human

entity @YouTube ranks 5th with 51.97

million followers.

Fear not though, science “tweeps”

(twitter peeps), you too can have

millions of followers! The top science

stars of Twitter are @neiltyson

(Astrophysicist) with 2.4 million

followers, @ProfBrianCox (Physicist)

with 1.44 million followers, and

@RichardDawkins (Biologist) with 1.02

million followers. You can also follow

large institutions, such as @NOAA,

space missions and astronauts, such as

@ESA_Rosetta and @Cmdr_Hadfield,

and even imaginary characters, such

as @Lord_Voldemort7. You could

arrange tweet-ups with your tweeps

(translation: meet-ups with other

How Tweet It Is (in 140 characters or less)

By

Rita Steyn

SANCOR Student Representative and

Official SANCOR Tweeter


tweeters and followers) or have an

AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. You

can share photos, thoughts, questions,

musings, findings, facts, rumours, the

list is endless, and have those re-

tweeted to the ends of the earth.

As long as it’s 140 characters or less,

because, as Einstein said “If you can’t

explain it simply, you don’t understand

it well enough”. Go forth and tweet!

Still need help? See below…

How to Tweet

http://michaelhyatt.com/the-

beginners-guide-to-twitter.html

https://support.twitter.com/article

s/215585

Online Sources

http://twitter.about.com/od/Twitte

r-Basics/a/The-Real-History-Of-

Twitter-In-Brief.htm

http://www.socialnomics.net/2013

/01/23/the-history-of-twitter/

http://expandedramblings.com/ind

ex.php/march-2013-by- the-

numbers-a-few-amazing-twitter-

stats/

http://www.statista.com/statistic

s/273172/twitter-accounts-with-

the-most-followers-worldwide/

http://news.sciencemag.org/scie

ntific-community/2014/09/top-

50-science-stars-twitter#full-list

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kellyo

ake s /mu s t - f o l l ow - tw i t t e r -

a c o u n t s - f o r - s c i e n c e -

nerds#.dlW86Kynb

http://www.crushable.com/2015/0

1/02/entertainment/funny-twitter-

acounts-follow/

http://webtrends.about.com/od/tw

itter/tp/Funny-Twitter-Parody-

Accounts.htm

See how SANCOR’s twitter account is doing!

You can find me

@SANCORcommunity

(h ps://twi er.com/

SANCORcommunity)


The annual Forum Meeting was held on

20 August 2015 in the DAFF Marine

Research Aquarium in Sea Point. This

topical forum was themed: "Crossing

boundaries – the role of marine

science in transdisciplinary research"

and aimed to bring together South

African marine and coastal research

community to build on common

positions and perspectives towards

understand ing and advanc ing

transdisciplinary research.

The meeting aimed to demonstrate

constructive natural and social science

integration, show examples of inter

and transdisciplinary research, offer a

local and regional perspective on how

scientific information is integrated in

marine and coastal management and

to discuss how transdisciplinarity can

strengthen the sc ience-pol icy

interface.

Dr Serge Raemakers, SANCOR

Steering Committee National Forum

Representative for Social Science

introduced the topic, referring to Poul

Degnbol’s paper on “Painting the floor

with a hammer: Technical fixes in

f i s h e r i e s m a n a g e m e n t ”

(doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2005.07.002).

T h e a u t h o r s c l a i m e d t h a t

i m p r o v e m e n t s i n f i s h e r i e s

management will be realized not

through the promotion of technical

fixes but instead by embracing and

responding to the complexity of the

management problem.

Dr Raemakers added that there are

not too many South African case

studies to prove that this is possible.

He defined terminology multi, inter-

and trans-disciplinary and described

the challenges of different disciplines

working together. Marine and coastal

systems are complex socio-ecological

systems and their understanding

requires interdisciplinary and

t r a n s d i s c i p l i n a r y r e s e a r c h

approaches.

Carmen Visser, SANCOR Secretariat,

reported on SANCOR activities in the

past year. Student Travel Winner for

2014, Ms Mia Wege, based at the

University of Pretoria, presented on

cross-seasonal directional foraging

fidelity of Subantarctic fur seals:

implications for conservation areas.

Mr Andrew Zaloumis, CEO of

iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority,

described the historical and current

challenges and successes facing the

Park. In his presentation 'Developing

to Conserve or Turning Paradise into a

Parking Lot - Future Conservation", he

described the balancing act required in

managing land claims through co-

management and revenue sharing,

while conforming to the requirements

of a World Heritage Site. Dr Georgina

Cundill, Senior Lecturer at the

Department o f Env i ronmenta l

Sciences, Rhodes University, shared

transdisciplinary insights from small

scale fishery governance in Chile. She

reflected on lessons learned from the

collapse of the macha fishery.

SANCOR Forum 2015—crossing boundaries in marine research

The SANCOR Steering Committee thanks all participants in this annual event. From

L‐R: Kim Prochazka, Jimmy Khanyile, Rita Steyn, Louis Celliers, Anusha Rajkaran,

Serge Raemakers, Lara Atkinson, Ticky Forbes and Carmen Visser. Not pictured

here: Ursula Scharler, Zini Manana and Andy Cockcroft.


Dr Kim Prochazka, Director of

Resources Research at the Fisheries

Branch of the Department of

Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries,

illustrated transdisciplinarity in action

in the science-management interface,

specifically in the fisheries arena. She

explained how marine scientists,

through scientific working groups

(maths/stats, oceans, biology, physics

and eco logy) i n te r f ace w i th

management ( l aw , bus iness ,

household, resources). In this mutually

d i r e c t e d p r o c e s s s c i e n t i f i c

recommendations are directly made to

the resource manager and this allows

for stakeholder and involvement, the

inclusion of policy direction, legal

requirements, business or community

needs, health considerations and

internat iona l agreements and

commitments. She concluded that a

needs-driven approach is most likely to

foster multi-, inter- and trans-

disciplinarity. There should be a focus

on “operational” science with strong

quality control and adaptiveness while

establishing structures for transfer of

scientific information.

Dr Louis Celliers, Principal Scientist

and Research Group Leader: CSIR

showed the implementation of

Integrated Coastal Management as a

forum of interaction and a feedback

mechanism. Each province has a

Provincial Coastal Committee which

feeds into the management system.

Barriers to the integration of science

could potentially be overcome by

offering training courses in science

communication and training managers

in scientific processes. Dr Andrew

Green Senior Lecturer: Department

of Geology, University of KwaZulu-

Natal, gave an overview of

multidisciplinary applications for

Marine Geoscience. Most of the

marine geoscience activities he has

focused on relates to remote sensing

of the seabed and of the subsurface

as well as the examination of both

seabed and seafloor via sampling

activities.

The panel discussion chaired by Dr

Raemakers h igh l igh ted that

t r a n s d i s c i p l i n a r i t y c a n b e

strengthened by focusing on a

common problem. Transdisclinary

research is built on trust with

stakeholders. Despite the high cost

and complexity of transdisciplinary

research, we do have a window of

opportunity in that we have a

relatively well-kept resource base.

Photos by Rita Steyn

PECS 2015 Conference

Program on Ecosystem Change

and Society (PECS)

SocialSocial--ecological dynamics in the ecological dynamics in the AnthropoceneAnthropocene

3-5 November 2015

Spier, Stellenbosch

PECS 2015 will gather scientists from various disciplines, from within and beyond the PECS network, to share cutting-edge research insights on social-ecological dynamics in the Anthropocene.

The conference will engage and involve multiple stakeholders concerned with sustainable development and who are interested in developing new solutions and strategies. The conference is intended to highlight PECS achievements and ambitions, and to synthesize and integrate PECS-related research to provide a basis for a future social-ecological research agenda, especially in light of Future Earth.

Click here for the

conference website.

2014 SANCOR Student Travel winner,

Mia Wege reported on her attendance

of the Biologging Conference held in

France.

http://www.futureearth.org/�

http://www.pecs2015.org/�


SANCOR is pleased to announce the

appointments of the Western Cape /

Northern Cape Representative Dr

Deena Pillay and NRF Representative,

Mr Jonathan Diederiks.

Deena has a

p a r t i c u l a r

i n t e r e s t i n

e s t u a r i n e

e c o l o g y ,

especially the

r o l e o f

bioturbation by

animals spanning from sandprawns to

hippos, and the effects of drought on

St Lucia. He is currently a Senior

Lecturer at the University of Cape

Town. In 2014 he was the recipient of

the SANCOR ‘Emerging Scientist’

award. He has also been the recipient

of the Young Researcher Award from

the College of Fellows, University of

Cape Town, and a Claude Leon Award

for young lecturers, both obtained

u n d e r h i g h l y c o m p e t i t i v e

circumstances. He has a strong

postgraduate school, and has

published 24 peer-reviewed articles

and chapters. He is a/so the subject

editor covering Marine Ecology and

Invertebrates for the journal African

Zoology, and has refereed articles for

21 national and international

journals.

The Steering

Committee also

welcomes the

n e w N R F

Representative,

Mr Jonathan

Diederiks, who

h a s b e e n

appointed on 1

S e p t e m b e r

2015 as the

Director for the

Global Change Unit (under which

SANCOR is managed) in the NRF's

Knowledge Fields Development

Directorate. For the past five years

Jonathan has been the National

Director for the Southern African

Science Centre for Climate Change

and Adaptive Land Management

(SASSCAL) SA Office, which is a

regional initiative (Head Office in

Namibia) in partnership with

Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia

and Germany, doing research (85

projects in the region) related to

Climate Change in 5 thematic areas

(water, forestry, biodiversity, climate

change and agriculture). And then

looking at how the ‘science’ can/should

be used to improve livelihoods,

policies, development planning etc. in

the region. In 2007 Jonathan was

Programme Manager for a DfID

Programme (Urban LandMark) that

was looking at the access to urban

land for the Urban poor within a post-

apartheid context in SA. In 2003, he

was Programme Manager at DANIDA

(Danish International Development

Agency) w i th a por t fo l i o o f

development programmes looking at

sustainability and the environment.

We welcome and congratulate Deena

and Jonathan and wish them every

success in their new roles. We would

like to extend our gratitude to outgoing

representative Dr Juliet Hermes for

dedicating her time and efforts to the

activities of SANCOR.

Acknowledgement: Deena’s brief

biography from Prof George Branch.

New SANCOR Steering Committee Members

Deena Pillay

Jonathan Diederiks

Research Vacancy: Post-doctoral fellow

Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities (GULLS)

GULLS is an international research project funded through the International Opportunities Fund of the Belmont Forum and G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding. It aims to contribute to improving community adaptation efforts by characterizing, assessing and predicting the future of coastal-marine food resources through the provision and sharing of knowledge across regional change "hotspots" i.e. fast-warming marine areas and areas experiencing social tensions as a result of change. Applications are invited for the South African component of the project. The position can be based at either Rhodes University or the University of Cape Town. Click here for details. Apply before 9 October 2015.

http://sancor.nrf.ac.za/SiteAssets/Vacancies/9%20Oct%202015%20GULLS%20postdoc.pdf�


The South African Network for Coastal

and Oceanic Research (SANCOR) is a

non-statutory network to exchange

knowledge in order to promote the

sustainable use and management of

marine and coastal resources and

env i ronments . I t a l so p lays an

important role in keeping members up

to date regarding theoretical advances

in ecological and other re levant

literature, as well as events in the

marine resource management field

(e.g. policy changes and upcoming

c o n f e r e n c e s a n d w o r k s h o p s ) .

I t h a s p l a y e d a k e y r o l e i n

strengthening collaboration among

researchers in the field of marine

science as well as managing marine

research s ince 1956. SANCOR

therefore provides an institutional

structure and ‘research arena’ in which

researchers from many scientif ic

disciplines and from across the country,

produce and exchange their knowledge

related to marine and coastal issues.

The objectives of SANCOR are to:

Provide a forum for interaction,

collaboration and communication

about science in the marine and

coastal environment (SMCE), and

generate debate on current issues;

Contribute to planning for future

demands on marine and coastal

environments and resources; co-

ordinate and integrate activities by

stimulating appropriate inter-

disciplinary and inter-institutional

c o l l a b o r a t i o n ;

Contribute pro-actively to policy

deve lopment; adv ise on the

optimal use of financial, technical

a n d l o g i s t i c a l r e s o u r c e s ;

Help deve lop capac i ty in a l l

sectors; market the benefits and

promote the use of research

f i n d i n g s ; a n d

Act as a 'broker' between national

and international funding agencies

a n d r e s e a r c h e r s .

SANCOR was originally established in

1956 as the South African National

Committee on Oceanographic Research

(SANCOR) with a focus, in the early

stages, on oceanographic research. It

was then that the first coordinated and

substantial funding of basic marine

research in South Africa occurred with

grants received from the CSIR’s

Scientific Co-operative Programmes.

S A N C O R w a s i n s t r u m e n t a l i n

coordinating, liaising with funders and

managing these early marine research

p r o g r a m m e s .

In the late 1970s, when the national

F o u n d a t i o n f o r R e s e a r c h a n d

Development (FRD) (later to become

the NRF) took over the funding of

scientific research from the CSIR in

South Africa, SANCOR redefined its

mandate and introduced a number of

new innovations: namely, the student

travel prize, student bursaries, the

SANCOR Newsletter, and the South

African Marine Science Symposium

(SAMSS) (first held in 1970). The

SANCOR Newsletter was first published

on 1 December 1977 with the 100th

News l e t t e r b e i ng pu b l i s hed i n

December 1986, and the 200th

Newsletter in 2012. In 1985, the

triennial Gilchrist Memorial Medal for

distinguished marine scientists and the

Derek Krige Award for outstanding

support in technology and logistics

were instituted. Since then the Marine

and Coastal Communicator Award and

the more recent SANCOR Emerging

Scientist Award are also awarded every

t h r e e y e a r s .

SANCOR’s name was changed in 1993

SANCOR: History and Role in Marine and Coastal Research


and the new logo was developed in

1997, which is still in use today (it was

previously a seahorse profiled against a

ship’s wheel). The new name was the

South African Network of Coastal and

Oceanographic Research (SANCOR),

which enabled it to retain the same

acronym but to be more inclusive as

the focus had become much broader

than only oceanography. In 1978, the

Department of Oceanography at UCT

offered to hold monthly marine science

s e m i n a r s t o p r o v i d e r e g u l a r

opportunities for networking across

d i s c i p l i n a r y a n d i n s t i t u t i o n a l

boundaries, which continue today and

are advertised by SANCOR as the MA-

R E S A N C O R S e m i n a r s .

In 1993, SANCOR was restructured and

the SANCOR Forum was instituted

which allowed for a meeting of an

inclusive body of researchers in the

marine and coastal environment to

meet once a year, with a smaller

Steering Committee meeting more

frequently throughout each year.

R e p r e s e n t e d o n t h i s S t e e r i n g

Committee today are the funding

agen t s ; t he Na t i ona l Resea r ch

Foundation and the two government

departments, DAFF and DEA, , as well

as representatives of the different

geographical regions in which marine

r e s e a r c h t a k e s p l a c e .

By the mid-1990s, SANCOR developed

a s t rateg ic p lan to become the

‘principle voice of South Africa’s marine

science, engineering and technology

communities’. In 1995, a marine

research programme, the Sea and

Coast Programme, was developed and

received national funding through a

Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) which

was signed between the then national

Department of Environmental Affairs

and Tourism (DEAT) which housed the

B r a n c h : M a r i n e a n d C o a s t a l

Management [MCM]) and the National

Research Foundation (NRF). A Joint

Venture Agreement Committee, was

set up in 1999 to support SANCOR and

i ts research programme. I t was

concluded in 2010. In 2010 the DEAT

Branch MCM was restructured to

b e c o m e t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f

Environmental Affairs (DEA) Branch

Oceans and Coasts and the Department

of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

(DAFF) Branch Fisheries Management.

The NRF was established through the

National Research Foundation Act (Act

No 23 of 1998), following a system-

wide review conducted for the then

Department of Arts, Culture, Science

a n d T e c h n o l o g y ( D A C S T ) .

There have been two successful Sea

and Coast Programmes followed by one

SEAChange Research Programme

( 2007 -201 4 ) . T h e t i t l e o f t h e

Programme changed to SEAChange

(Society, Ecosystems and Change) in

2007 as it was proposed that coastal

a n d m a r i n e r e s o u r c e a n d

environmental management issues

needed to be conceptualised more

holistically and that multi-disciplinary

and interdisciplinary research was

necessary. Researchers from a broader

range of disciplines needed to be

included to be able address these

issues. Today, the focus includes

research in a wide range of natural

s c i e n c e d i s c i p l i n e s s u c h a s

oceanography, marine geoscience,

botany, zoology, biological sciences,

marine biology, ecology, ornithology

and biotechnology, with increasing

efforts to ‘broaden the knowledge

fields’ and involve researchers from

law, engineering, the humanities and

social sciences. Throughout these

research programmes SANCOR has

supported the need for both basic and

applied research, and the need for

racial and gender transformation in the

m a r i n e s c i e n c e c o m m u n i t y .

In addition to managing the research

p rogrammes, in the mid-1990s

SANCOR also set up a number of Co-

ordinating Groups, for example, the

Marine Linefish Research Group, which

provide focused research networks for

marine scientists, although they are no

longer funded by SANCOR (see website

for the ful l l ist). Over the years

SANCOR also continued to set up Task

Teams to address relevant issues, such

as the Capacity Building Task Team and

the Communicat ions Task Team.

SANCOR has developed an increasing

concern for careers and capacity-

building in marine science in the post-

1994 period and initiated three studies

on capacity building between 1998 and

2006 to map the career paths of

m a r i n e s c i e n t i s t s .

SANCOR made substantial inputs into

the development of the Living Marine


Resources Act of 1995, with regional

workshops being held in all major

c oa s t a l c i t i e s and sub s t an t i ve

contributions being made to the final

Act. Members also participated in the

advisory Subsistence Fisheries Task

Group, which made recommendations

on how to manage subs i s tence

fisheries, culminating is a series of

papers published in the South African

Journal of Marine Science in 2002.

Marine and Coastal Educator’s Network

(MCEN) , a co -o rd ina t ing g roup

established by SANCOR, has been

extremely successful, and has taken on

an independent life of its own and runs

vibrant annual trips and conferences

that disseminate and shore information

with and between marine educators.

SANCOR continues to reframe itself in

line with the broader restructured

institutional and policy context in South

A f r i c a , a s w e l l a s e m b r a c i n g

international and national research

trends. The shift in vision to include

social science in marine and coastal

research; to i nc lude a sh i f t to

interdisciplinary research; and to gear

s t u de n t a n d r e s e a r c h f u n d i n g

allocations to meet the national social

redistribution and justice goals of the

country is slowly being real ized.

O n e o f S A N C O R ’ s p r i m a r y

achievements has been in its role of

network ing and communicat ing.

SANCOR ’s ro le as a med ium o f

communication has encouraged the

emergence of a sense of ‘community’

among marine scientists and is the

‘glue’ that keeps them together.

T h r o u g h t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f a

transparent and participatory bottom-

up approach, SANCOR continues to

influence the direction of marine

research in South Africa. In this way,

SANCOR has played a critical role in

gett ing researchers and off ic ials

together to communicate and debate; it

w o r k s f r o m t h e ‘ b o t t o m - u p ’ ,

assembling all stakeholders together to

talk about issues. SANCOR has over the

years, in its unique way, fostered a co-

operative ethos among researchers in

the marine and coastal environment,

and it will continue to play this role as

well as liaising between the marine

science community and the national

funders of marine research. With its

primary roles of communication and

networking, supporting and managing

research opportunities, SANCOR can be

called a ‘community of practice’.

SANCOR is managed by the NRF and

the Secretariat office is hosted by the

Department of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries (DAFF) Branch Fisheries

Management in Cape Town.

OBIS/OTGA Training Course Marine Biogeographic Marine Biogeographic

Data Management Data Management

(contributing and using OBIS)

30 November - 4 December 2015,

Oostende, Belgium

The course provides an introduction to the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS). This includes best practices in marine biogeographic data management, data publication, data access, data analysis and data visualisation.

Aims and Objectives Expand the OBIS network of

collaborators Improve marine biogeographic

data quality Increase awareness of

international standards and best practices related to marine biogeographic data

Increase the amount of open access data published through OBIS and its OBIS nodes

Increase the use of data from OBIS for science, species conservation and area-based management applications

Click here for more information.

This article has been

written by

a team of researchers in the

marine and coastal

environment.

http://www.iode.org/index.php?option=com_oe&task=viewEventRecord&eventID=1650�


SANCOR is proud to announce the granting of 4 postdoctoral fellowships. These fellowships are expected to stimulate new research and to encourage the development of early career scientists. We introduce these new postdoctoral fellows, their research expertise, interests and projects.

Ryan Reisinger received a BSc

degree in 2007, a BSc

(Honours) in 2008 and an MSc

in 2011, all in zoology and all

from the University of Pretoria.

He spent a year on Marion

Island collecting data for his

MSc dissertation on the

ecosystem role of killer

whales, which was awarded

the Junior Kaptein Scott

gedenkmedalje by the Suid-

Afrikaanse Akademie vir

Wetenskap en Kuns (Captain

Scott Memorial Medal from the

South African Academy of Science and Art). He then spent

a second year on Marion Island, working on the foraging

and social ecology of killer whales. Under the supervision of

Dr Nico de Bruyn, Dr Mark Keith, and Prof Rus Hoelzel, he

completed the resulting PhD thesis in 2015 at the

University of Pretoria. Dr Pierre Pistorius (Department of

Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)

supervises the project.

Ryan’s postdoctoral project is entitled:” Marine top predator

distribution and diet at the Sub-Antarctic Prince Edward

Islands”. Marine top predators have been studied

extensively at the Prince Edward Islands, Southern Ocean,

but most of this research has been conducted on a species

by species basis. The project will collate and archive

existing tracking and dietary data on seals and seabirds at

the Prince Edward Islands and will use these data to

identify important habitat for marine top predators, to

predict possible range changes due to climate change, and

to assess long-term diet changes due to changing

environmental conditions. The project should allow a better

understanding of recent climate-driven changes in the

SANCOR Postdoctoral Fellows for 2015

Southern Ocean and will attempt to forecast distribution

changes in top predators. In addition, habitat modelling will

aid spatial management of marine resources within South

Africa's Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the Prince

Edward Islands.

Raïssa Philibert was born

and raised in Mauritius. She

moved to Cape Town in

2007 t o s t a r t h e r

undergraduate studies and

never left! After a BSc

(Honours) in Chemistry at

the University of Cape Town,

s h e j o i n e d t h e

Oceanography Department

in 2011 for a MSc

investigating the nitrogen cycle in the Southern Ocean and

the Benguela upwelling system. Her MSc project was

upgraded to a PhD in 2012. Raïssa’s thesis was approved in

2015. Over the last year she joined the Earth Sciences

department at Stellenbosch to investigate how trace metals

concentrations and light limitation affect phytoplankton

growth.

The aim of Raïssa’s research project “Effects of light and

iron on Southern Ocean phytoplankton” is to improve the

current understanding about the effects iron and light co-

limitation on Southern Ocean diatoms as this plays an

important role in regulating the marine carbon cycle, the

marine food web and the Earth's climate. The Southern

Ocean, accounts for 4% of global carbon fluxes and is

expected to play an important role in the uptake of the

anthropogenic carbon dioxide. However, the efficiency of

the biological pump (the mechanism through which carbon

is removed from the surface ocean due to the sinking and

Ryan Reisinger

Raïssa Philibert


subsequent sequestration of organic matter produced by

phytoplankton) in this region is still debated. The efficiency

of the biological pump is affected by several factors such as

the phytoplankton community structure and the rate of

primary productivity. Their growth is regulated by light and

nutrients availability. In the Southern Ocean, however,

phytoplankton are limited by the low iron availability (iron

limitation) which is considered to be the cause of the high

nutrients, low chlorophyll conditions observed in this

region. This iron limitation might also be compounded by

the light conditions experienced by Southern Ocean

phytoplankton. Given their importance for the regulation of

climate and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, the

adaptation of Southern Ocean diatoms to iron and light

limitation will be studied by conducting incubation

experiments of summer and winter phytoplankton

communities as well as laboratory culture experiments. Her

supervisors are Dr Susanne Fietz and Prof Roychoudhury at

Stellenbosch University.

Els Vermeulen was born in

Antwerp, Belgium. Els always

had an interest in marine

mammal conservation. In

2003 she obtained a Master

Degree in Biological Science

from the Free University of

Brussels and a PhD degree in

2014 from the University of

Liège. After a short field trip

to Argentina during her

masters course, she was

inspired to live there and set up a national conservation

programme for coastal marine mammals. She co-founded

and directed the Marybio Foundation (an independent NGO)

for 6 years. Els also co-founded Whalefish

(www.whalefish.org), a global network of diverse

stakeholders, including scientists, students, NGOs,

governmental organizations, and others, aiming to enhance

marine conservation efforts. Her research expertise lies in

animal behaviour, ecology and population biology. She aims

to understand the causal factors affecting marine mammal

conservation in order to aid in enhancing conservation

management strategies. Els has been involved in several

educational projects in Argentina including the creation of

an interpretation centre for marine mammals, the creation

and free distribution of a children’s book on dolphins (based

on her PhD thesis) entitled Toninas de la Bahía (Dolphins of

the Bay, English translation available here). She was an

external advisor for the Provincial Department of Wildlife

within Argentina and later a scientific advisor as part of the

Belgian Delegation of the International Whaling

Commission. Els also served as committee member of the

Marine Mammal Observer Association, an organization

which represents environmental consultants in the gas and

oil industry.

Els’ postdoctoral research is entitled: “Population structure

and viability of South Africa’s most endangered cetacean -

humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) on the Cape south

coast.” The cetacean community around southern Africa is

one of the richest in the world with at least 51 of 86 species

of whale or dolphins known to occur here. Her research

project aims to provide a first comprehensive assessment of

the species’ population status, structure and viability along

the Cape south coast through dedicated field surveys and

the establishment of a national collaboration with other

research groups. The results will assist in the identification

of causal factors affecting their conservation status feeding

directly into the identification of priority conservation

actions for this species and its habitat. Her research is

supervised by Dr Simon Elwen, University of Pretoria.

Lucienne Human’s passion for

the environment started at

an early age, often spending

time along the banks of an

estuary. This inspired him to

learn more about these

dynamic systems. After

completing an MSc on the

temporarily open closed East

Kleinemonde Estuary in 2008

and publishing his first paper

on reeds as indicators of

Els Vermeulen

Lucienne Human

http://www.whalefish.org/#!research/cy17�


nutrient enrichment, he started to

specialize in estuarine water quality.

This path eventually led him to

complete a PhD in 2013 where his

research was focused on the

c o n t r i b u t i o n o f s u b m e r g e d

macrophytes and macroalgae to

nutrient cycling in the Great Brak

Estuary. His research area of expertise

now includes the water quality of

estuaries with emphasis on the

interaction between the benthos and

water column; the dynamics of the

m a c r o p h y t e s i n r e l a t i o n t o

eutrophication and its causes and

consequences; the management of

estuarine water quality; mangrove

ecology; phytoplankton dynamics and

community structure.

His postdoctoral project involves the

study of the structure and function of

selected micro-inlets along the Eastern

Cape coast of South Africa. This is a

multidisciplinary project with Prof Alan

Whitefield as the team leader. Other

botanists on this project include Prof

Janine Adams and Ms Lyndle Naidoo.

The second project is entitled: The

extent and impact of a macroalgal

bloom in the Knynsa Estuary.

Collaborators are Prof Brian Allanson

and Prof Janine Adams. The goal of

this project is to understand why a

macroalgal bloom of Ulva lactuca has

colonised the lower reaches of the

estuary. Significant progress has been

made and a publication can be

expected early next year.

Dr John Field, Emeritus Professor and

Deputy Director of the Marine

Research Institute (Ma-Re) at the

University of Cape Town, has been

awarded the Intergovernmental

Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC-

U N E S C O ) N . K .

Panikkar Memorial Medal.

Dr Field delivered his memorial

lecture on 17 June at the Ocean

Science Day. Recent developments in

ocean science were presented to the

IOCs 147 Member States, networks

and partners. The overall objective

was to improve decision makers’

understanding and awareness of

current challenges and emerging

issues around ocean science and

governance through lectures and

panel discussions with eminent

experts.

Presentations and debates focused on

the linkages between ocean health

and human wellbeing, the potential of

the latest advancements in

monitoring technology, current

scientific challenges in the Artic and

the legacy of the International India

Ocean Expedition (IIOC) as well as

the need to develop new ocean

knowledge and technologies for the

benefit of society.

Dr Field shared his experience on

board cruise 7 of RV Anton Bruun

during the first International Indian

Ocean Expedition (IIOE) in the

1960s. The IIOE was one of the

g r e a t e s t i n t e r n a t i o n a l ,

interd isc ip l inary oceanographic

research efforts. It was carried out

from 1962 to 1965, with over 40

oceanographic research vessels

participating under 14 different flags. It

was a remarkable success, and began

to illuminate the Indian Ocean’s far-

reaching influences on surrounding

regions and the globe in general

through tele-connected ocean/climate

processes.

Now, 50 years later, IOC-UNESCO is

planning the second IIOE in partnership

with the Scientific Committee for

Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the

Indian Ocean GOOS (IOGOOS), to take

place from 2016 to 2020.

Dr Field provided insights on the legacy

of the first IIOE, and the fundamental

changes that have revolutionized our

understanding of the global ocean in

the 50 years since then and exploring

the potential of IIOE-2 in light of new

technological advances.

Source: MA-RE Website

Dr John Field awarded IOC-UNESCO medal

http://ma-re.uct.ac.za/2015/07/dr-john-field-awarded-ioc-unesco-medal/�


SANCOR's activities are made possible through financial

contributions from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries (DAFF), the Department of Environmental

Affairs (DEA) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Disclaimer: SANCOR's main function is to disseminate

information. SANCOR encourages robust, indeed provocative

debate about any matters relevant to the marine science

community. The views and opinions expressed in all

communication from SANCOR are not a reflection of the

views of SANCOR or the SANCOR Secretariat.

Enquiries may be directed to the editor:

Mrs Carmen Visser

Private Bag X2, Roggebaai, 8012

Phone: 021 402 3536

Fax: 086 440 1518

E-mail: [email protected]

We’re on the web!

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@SANCORcommunity

Our Focus: Science in the

Marine and Coastal Environments

Issued by the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research

The South African / Belgian

Echinoderm & Algae Partnership

would like to announce a

workshop to be held at the

University of KwaZulu-Natal

(Westville campus) on:

Echinoderm & Algae

Taxonomy

23 & 24 January 2016

Durban,

University of KwaZulu-Natal

analysis

How to score biodiversity

data in ABCD (Access to

Biological Collection Data)

Format

Further details to follow in

November 2015.

If interested in participating,

please contact:

[email protected]

The workshop will cover the

following topics:

I n t r odu c t i on t o t h e

taxonomy of echinoderms &

algae

Hands-on training in the

handling of collections

Hands-on training in the

taxonomy of echinoderms &

algae

Introduction to zoological

and botanical nomenclature

Introduction to phylogenetic

Echinoderm & Algae Taxonomy Workshop

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